The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Spiraea plant, botanically known as Spiraea japonica and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Galen’.
The new Spiraea plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Grand Haven, Mich. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new compact Spiraea cultivars with strong foliage, large flowers and resistance to Powdery Mildew.
The new Spiraea plant originated from an open-pollination during the summer of 2004 of Spiraea japonica ‘Walbuma’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,363, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Spiraea japonica, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Spiraea plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor during the summer of 2006 as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Grand Haven, Mich.
Asexual reproduction of the new Spiraea plant by softwood cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Grand Haven, Mich. since the summer of 2006 has shown that the unique features of this new Spiraea plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.